52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Rosa May Springer

I am a bit behind in posting for the meme of 52 Ancestors. With this post I move on to my great-grandmother Rose May Springer.

Rose was born in Maine on 30 March 1888 to Marie Cote’ and Alexander Springer. She was the seventh (of eight) child born to this couple, of the eight children the last four were born in the United States (the first four were born in Quebec). This would make Rose, the first generation American by birth.

On 27 Feb 1905, Rose married Dennis O’Connell in Berlin, Coos, New Hampshire. Together they had four children; only three surviving to become an adult. Their first child was Ambrose(b. 7 Dec 1905), who was followed by Linus, Viola (I believe, no real proof has been found on this child besides mention in a census record that Rose had four children) and Theresa.

According to the 1910 Census, Rose’s mother, Marie, and brother, William, lived with her and Dennis in New York. Twelve years after marrying and starting a family, Rose’s husband Dennis left the family and moved to Thorold, Canada. Rose moved forward with her life and continued to raise her children.

In the 1920’s Rose’s sibling moved to Chicago and she soon followed with her grown children and second husband, Frank McAvoy. To this point, no divorce papers or second marriage papers have been found to validate this.

Rose died on 22 Aug 1966 in Chicago, Cook, IL and is buried at St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery in River Grove, Cook, IL to her right is her daughter Theresa and in the next section over is her son Linus. According to the cemetery records, Rose’s husband is still listed as Dennis (and Dennis’ cemetery records list Rose as his wife).

Further research needs to be conducted on Rose and Dennis to see if a divorce decree can be found in New York. Also New York and Chicago records need to be scoured for a marriage records from Frank and Rose.